Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Less than
100 years after all adult women in the UK were finally granted the vote, a film
about the struggle to gain that basic democratic right emerges. With a dream
team of female talent in front of and behind the camera, Sarah Gavron's
Suffragette is a gripping start, but it becomes clear that there is far more of
this true story of tremendous sacrifice left to be told.

Suffragette
makes the interesting decision to follow fictional character Maud Watts (Carey
Mulligan) from washer woman and poverty-stricken working mother to militant suffragette
engaged in escalating actions against the government. To the detriment of her
own family life, she joins Edith Ellyn’s (Helena Bonham Carter) group of East
London women who are spurred on by the currently in-hiding Emmeline Pankhurst
(Meryl Streep). As Inspector Steed (Brendon Gleeson) keeps a close eye on the
women, their civil disobedience becomes more volatile and threatens to land
them all in prison.

To a young
audience raised in a world increasingly full of strong women who may never have
even questioned their right to vote, the suffragette's struggle looks at once
completely ludicrous, and at the same time teeth-grindingly infuriating. How
dare men decide that women didn't deserve the vote? It’s an unimaginable
situation that seems preposterous, but is still sadly relevant. The closing
crawl of the film indicates the year that women got the vote in other countries
of the world, and unbelievably the UK was far from the most recent.

Suffragette
sits neatly alongside 12 Years a Slave as a document of the Western world's
recent history where depressing barbarity was carried out in the name of old
white men who were desperate to never let any power slip from their hands. The
working class washer women in Suffragette are little more than slaves, being
paid far less and working longer hours than their male counterparts. Those that
speak out against the unfairness of the system are beaten, threatened,
humiliated, ridiculed and made to feel ashamed.

And this is
where the true tragedy of Suffragette lies. Because while it covers the famous
incident involving Emily Davison's brave sacrifice involving the King's horse,
it's really the story of ordinary women engaged in everyday action. Even
Streep's Pankhurst only appears for a single scene, though her inspiration and
influence is felt throughout. Maud sacrifices so much for the cause, including
her beloved son and her job, and it is this tension between doing what she
wants (to see her son) and what she must do (make the world a better place for
future generations of women) that is so heart-wrenching.

Suffragette
feels just as relevant today as it would have been in 1912. Women are abused,
belittled and laughed at by men. But they also face the impossibly difficult
choice of often wanting to manage a family with a desire to do something potentially
more fulfilling outside of the home. It's a choice which Suffragette pointedly
shows a single father tragically failing to consider. It also deals with the
notion of what is basically terrorist action, as the women have become fed up
with not being listened to, and decide on a policy of non-violent but
destructive disobedience. In its mentions of police surveillance and brutality,
and the media's tendency to ridicule those who threaten the status quo,
Suffragette constantly reminds of none-more-contemporary issues.

For a
period drama, Suffragette feels righteous and urgent in its fury. The
performances are uniformly excellent, particularly Mulligan and Anne-Marie
Duff, while Gavron's direction is best when highlighting the horrors of hard
labour in the laundry and more so, the barbarity of the women's treatment
during prison stints. It’s a shame not to learn more about Emily Davison as she
plays such a fundamental role in the climax, but Suffragette's focus on the
fictional Maud makes for an incredibly emotive journey.

Suffragette is a
vital film, but feels like a strong start, rather than the definitive
suffragette movie. More films on this movement would be most welcome, and for
those dumb enough to think feminism is a dirty word; this is a timely reminder of its
fundamental potential.

Monday, 12 October 2015

This is huge news for me, as I can't tell you how much I use this site myself. To think that people are going to be seeing snippets of my reviews up on the site is amazing and I'm very proud to be a part of the Starburst team on Rotten Tomatoes.

So far, there are 4 reviews up under my name, though hopefully some of my older reviews for Starburst may also one day end up on there. Apparently I agree with the Tomatometer 100% of the time so far too. I'm sure that will change in time, but I guess for now I'm happy to agree with the in-crowd.

Red Army is finally in selected UK cinemas. If you're in London, it's on at the Picturehouse Cinema until Wednesday. It's brilliant and well worth a watch, even if you're not an ice hockey fan!

Here's a snippet of my review from Cannes 2014:

Like an infinitely superior version of Rocky IV, Red Army intertwines
politics and sport with the Cold War being fought in the ice rink
instead of the boxing ring. This incredibly heartfelt and occasionally
hilarious documentary tells the story of the Soviet Union’s awe
inspiring national ice hockey team as team captain Slava Fetisov turns
from national hero to endangered traitor.

The Red Army hockey team
are legendary for their incredible skill on the ice, competing in the
Olympic Games in the late 70s and through the 80s. As the USSR went
through turbulent years of Communism, KGB repression and gradual
political change, its most notable sports stars and national heroes were
finding success in the arenas but difficulties in dealing with their
over bearing coach and the dictatorial control others had over their
lives.

In London to promote the Mad Max: Fury Road Blu-ray release, visionary director George Miller spoke about the incredible production of the film, his version of DC’s Justice League, the cultural impact of Furiosa and finding a replacement for Mad Mel Gibson. Oh what a lovely day...

Tuesday, 6 October 2015

I've just written a little something over at The Daily Heckle about the end of the This is England saga, which finished on Sunday night with the last episode of This is England 90.

I've spent the last maybe six or seven years using This is England as an example of how films use specific techniques to create emotional response, while teaching A level Film Studies. That means every year, I get to watch some of the most powerful scenes with my students again and again.

In the meantime, This is England 86, 88 and 90 have all now come and gone, and while I'll truly miss catching up with the gang, I hope this is where it ends. It was simply phenomenal television.

From its incredibly ominous opening, right through to the pitch-black
climax, Sicario is scintillating crime cinema at its finest. With a trio of
commanding performances at its centre, Denis Villeneuve proves yet again that
he is an excellent director of morally complex thrillers. Packed with tense
set-pieces and a standout turn from Benicio del Toro, Sicario has the power and
potential to please both arthouse audiences and the mainstream crowd.

Emily Blunt plays Kate Macer, an idealistic FBI agent who is
hunting down victims kidnapped by cartels in Arizona. When her crack unit
uncover the bodies of over 30 victims, she is enlisted by a shady elite task
force, headed up by the flip-flop wearing Matt Graver, played with effortless
cool by Josh Brolin. But Kate is left in the dark by the officials that have
drafted her in, as the war against the ruthless drug trafficking cartels
intensifies, Kate finds herself out of depth. Operating around the dangerous border
between the U.S. and Mexico, Kate becomes embroiled with an operative even
shadier than her superiors; a man with a past so murky, it can be difficult to
know which side he is on.

Benicio del Toro is great as the blank-eyed, shark-like
presence at the heart of Sicario’s dark moral core. His Alejandro is a
suspicious man from the moment Kate lies on him. The suit, the quiet
determination and his overall moody demeanour make him a difficult character to
warm to. But compared to Blunt’s much more wide-eyed and straight-laced Kate,
he is a far more interesting character. It is very welcome to see a female lead
in this kind of film, with Blunt managing to deflect much of the machismo that
surrounds, and is directed towards her, but unfortunately her character gets
overshadowed by the huge presences of Brolin and del Toro. Still, Kate is the
moral compass of the story, and a vitally tough character adrift in a sea of
suspect individuals.

Towering above even these fine performances is the
atmosphere created by Villeneuve and his collaborators. Roger Deakins’
cinematography, so often praised in any film he elevates, is stunning here. Every
shot drips with tension, particularly as Deakins takes a sky-high view of the
border and messy towns and roads below. Accompanied by an incredibly moody
score by Jóhann Jóhannsson, it’s the kind of film you can’t shake off easily.
And more importantly, it’s a film you will almost immediately want to see again
and again and again.

Violent, tense, terrifying and strangely beautiful;
Sicario should be seen in the darkness of a cinema, but will likely leave you
stumbling for the light.